Theyskens' Theory / Spring 2012 RTW

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Having moved from Paris little over a year ago, Olivier Theyskens is still a newbie by New York standards. And yet, it hasn’t taken him long to crack the code on the urban uniform around town, one that invariably boils down to a tweedy jacket, a slouchy tee, conceptual pants, heels, and a chic structured handbag. He made that look the sartorial stomping ground for Theyskens’ Theory this season, systematically manipulating what were very familiar clothes with his signature light hand. It was in the sloping line of a white leather blazer, the rise and fall of linen cargo pants, and the subtle blink-and-you’ll-miss-them holographic stripes on a tweed pocket flap—an elevated approach to the everyday that puts Theyskens in a league of his own. And if you were wondering what might replace last season’s must-have billowing corduroys, the answer’s in a pair of faded jeans, elongated at the torso with an artfully dropped waist. Glistening like the shell of some exotic beetle, the iridescent green pants probably won’t have as much pulling power on the sales floor as those true blues, even if they outshone the endless stream of denim and gauzy concrete-colored knits in scope and imagination.

Admittedly some of the bankable staples bordered on the banal and could have been left in the showroom alongside those seven-inch platform heels. They’re the kind of shoes that have been stumbling across cobblestone streets outside Theory HQ in the Meatpacking District for far too long, and even the models showed signs of fatigue towards the end of the show. All the girls looked far happier—and chicer—when they marched out for the finale dressed in sturdy black combat boots. Coming down off those death-defying heels ultimately lifted the collection to a cooler, higher ground.